Set of 3 specimens fished by dive near Saint Brieuc, Côtes d'Armor, N. Brittany, France.Average specimens of good size, in natural conditions.Displayed with the authentification-markings from fisheries dept. 98-104mm.

Two beachstormed abalones, Groix island, southern Brittany. 43-62mm.

Variations:

From English Channel to W. Sahara

One can divide the range in 3 areas, each one having its own panel of features.

Li:In west Europa, the ormers are the biggest, and are commercially fished.Potato-shaped, flat, thick, heavy, large, with a silver nacre, and a wide range of colours & patterns. Dorsum smooth to lightly folded. This is the Linnean morph.

La:In Mediterranean, the ormers are those described by Lamarck: ear shaped, flat, thin, light, small,with a nacre varying from silver to bluish, a dorsum often strongly folded, and the hugest rangeof colours and patterns. These shells can be true Arlecchinoes.

In:Alboran sea and adjacent waters, especially in the Cadiz-Gibraltar area,offer interesting intergrades:shells are smaller than Atlantic specimens, but bigger than in Mediterranean.They are often folded, but their colours are typically Atlantic;their red, for example, is definitively not Mediterranean.

In northwest Africa, the ormers are, again, a bit like the Linnean shells, with tiny differences:potato-shaped, but thin, light, medium sized, with a somewhat greenish to blueish nacre,and a dorsum not so sculptured. Colours and patterns variable. (Af).